Picture : ICC / X
New Zealand Skipper Kane Williamson marked his return to international cricket with an elegant half-century while Daryl Mitchell blazed away to a 67-ball 89 as New Zealand crushed Bangladesh by eight wickets in the ICC World Cup in Chennai .
Playing in his first match of the ongoing showpiece after finally recovering fully from the knee injury he had sustained during the IPL in April and the ensuing surgery, Williamson showed his class with an old-fashioned calculative ODI batting that fetched him 78 runs from 107 balls.
Daryl Mitchell looked in a hurry as he smashed fours and sixes at will to seal the issue in his team’s favour with 43 balls left. This was the Kiwis’ third win in as many matches, completing the chase of 246 with plenty to spare.
Having found two good-looking boundaries at the start of his innings, Williamson decorated his knock with eight fours and a six, while the Mitchell hammered six fours and four sixes during his breezy, unbeaten stay in the middle.
Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored with 66 as Bangladesh battled hard in the face of New Zealand’s disciplined bowling effort to post 245 for nine.
Mushfiqur’s 75-ball knock, alongside valuable contributions from Shakib (40 off 51 balls) and Mahmudullah (41 off 49), lifted Bangladesh after they were reeling at 56 for four in the 13th over.
The Tigers began on a disastrous note, losing Litton Das (0) off the very first delivery of the game to pacer Trent Boult, as his attempted flick was collected by Matt Henry in fine leg.
Tanzid Hasan (16 ) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (30) tried to put up some resistance before the former fell prey to pacer Lockie Ferguson, offering a catch to Devon Conway in square leg. Mustafizur Rahman was the ninth man out in the 48th over, the final pair managed to bat out the remaining deliveries.
Ferguson took 3 for 49, while Boult grabbed 2 for 45, including his 200th ODI wicket. Meanwhile, Santner was the most economical of them all, finishing with figures of 1/31 in 10 overs.
Match: World Cup 2023, 11th Match
Venue: Chennai | Date: October 13, 2023
